Governor of Kebbi State, Nasri Idris, inaugurated a 100-bed mother-and-child hospital in Tsamiya, Bagudu Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday.
The hospital was constructed by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs).
Governor Idris commended President Bola Tinubu for displaying commitment to the health sector through various initiatives, especially those facilitated by the Office of Sustainable Development Goals. He described the hospital as invaluable, stating that it would reduce child and maternal mortality in the council and, by extension, the neighboring country, Benin Republic.
The governor praised the Office of the SSA to the President on Sustainable Development Goals for undertaking the project and described Tinubu’s administration as people-oriented. He promised that the state government would provide quarters for the hospital’s medical personnel to complement the efforts of the Federal Government.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said the facility was one of the many mother and child centres constructed and equipped by the OSSAP-SDGs across the country.
“Let me appreciate President Tinubu for his sterling leadership and commitment to working closely with sub-national governments to deliver key interventions to fast-track the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria. In the same vein, I would like to most sincerely thank Governor Nasri Idris for his unwavering commitment to the socio-economic transformation of Nigeria and our collective desire to achieve the SDGs in Nigeria,” she said.
According to her, the SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, safeguard the planet, and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030.
She said: “It is pertinent to note that the SDGs cannot be achieved with stand-alone policies and programs. They must be carefully integrated into our medium and long-term national and sub-national development policies and plans. It is in recognition of this that we are supporting the 36 states and the FCT on SDG-Based Development Planning.
“Based on President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, we are committed to prioritizing key interventions with multiplier effects on multi-dimensional poverty, such as basic healthcare, vocational skills development, and education provisioning.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic challenging our healthcare system, strategic interventions, such as the mother and child center, have become imperative. Indeed, the primary and secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse decades of human development gains and undermine the achievement of the SDGs unless immediate action is taken and sustained. This is what we are doing right here in Tsamiya, Kebbi State.
“Thus, the 100-bed Mother and Child Centre (MCC), Tsamiya, is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. They include two operating theatres, recovery rooms, private and general wards, scanning room, consultation rooms, and laboratory. Others include an ultra-scan machine, vacuum extractor delivery set, and an emergency cart with full compliments.
“The MCC is directly linked to the achievement of SDG-3 on ‘Quality Health and Well-being for all’, as well as other cross-cutting SDGs.”
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